Golovkin defends WBA and IBO middleweight titles

MONACO—Gennady Golovkin of Kazakhstan stopped Nobuhiro Ishida of Japan in the third round to successfully defend his WBA and IBO middleweight titles Saturday night.

Golovkin's punching power was evident in the second round as he caught Ishida with two big rights and an uppercut, cutting him under the right eye.

Ishida tried to trade punches and gamely stood his ground in the middle of the ring, but that made him only a bigger target and Golovkin sent him crashing down with an overhand right. Ishida's head hit the bottom rope and he was motionless for about a minute before getting back on his feet.

The 30-year-old Golovkin improved to 26-0, including 23 KOs, while the 37-year-old Ishida was stopped for the first time.